Featuring Sophie Rowell, Lina Andonovska and Thea Rossen

Three leading Australian female artists perform a diverse range of elemental works spanning eras and continents.

Vivaldi published a set of twelve concertos, giving them the title Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’ inventione (The Contest between Harmony and Invention). The first four, The Four Seasons, have become some of the most famous music ever written – it’s high time we hear the fifth, and under the fleet fingers of violinist Sophie Rowell, Artistic Director of Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

Next, flautist Lina Andonovska summons the tranquil and lyrical qualities of Tobias Broström’s Stellar Skies. Curiosity, fearlessness and versatility carry Lina’s artistry around the globe. Andonovska is a rare breed in the flute world; a name that you’ll discover on both the pages of Rolling Stone and the Australian Chamber Orchestra roster.

This session concludes with Tan Dun’s Water Concerto. Both visually and sonically stunning, this work is an atmospheric evocation of the sounds of rural China, where the composer grew up. From the gentle rhythms of women washing laundry in the river to the excited splashes of children playing in the water, percussionist Thea Rossen deftly interacts with water in a piece that immerses audiences in the sounds of distant shores.

“What I want to present… is music that is for listening to in a visual way, and watching in an audio way. I want it to be intoxicating. And I hope some people will listen and rediscover life’s elements, things that are around us but we don’t notice.”

Tan Dun